Two experiments were carried out to determine the effects of feeding grass silages differing in their water-soluble carbohydrate content, with or without red clover silage, on the efficiency of nutrient use. High-sugar grass, control grass, and red clover were ensiled in laboratory silos for use in an in vitro experiment (Exp. 1). For an in vivo experiment (Exp. 2), the same forage types were b...

With high dry matter yields of high quality forage, high soluble carbohydrate levels and a suitability for harvest by cutting and removing, the forage legume sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) has the potential to be an important silage crop in New Zealand. In three experiments the ensiling potential of sulla was compared with conventional pasture using a mini-silo system which allows for rapid evalu...

Preservation of forage crops as silage offers opportunity to avoid the high risk of rain-damaged hay in the humid south-central USA. Recent developments with baled silage or baleage make silage a less expensive option than typical chopped silage. Silage has been important in the region primarily for dairy production, but baleage has become an option for the more extensive beef cattle industry i...

Twenty multiparous Holstein cows, 4 of them surgically fitted with ruminal cannulas, were used in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square to compare the effects of whole-plant silage and grain produced from NutriDense (ND), leafy NutriDense (LND), or a conventional yellow dent (YD) hybrid on ruminal fermentation, total tract nutrient digestibility, and performance of lactating dairy cows. On a DM basis...

This study examined the effects of bacterial inoculants on chemical composition and fermentation indices of barley silage. Barley forage (Youngyang) was harvested at 24% dry matter (DM) and wilted to 47.9% DM. The wilted barley forage was chopped to 3-5 cm length and applied with no inoculant (CON), L. plantarum (1×10(10) cfu/g, LP) or Effective Microorganisms (0.5×10(9) cfu/g, EM). Then the fo...

This study evaluated the fermentation characteristics and protein degradation dynamics of wet green tea grounds (WGTG) silage. The WGTG was ensiled with distilled water (control), or lactic acid bacteria (LAB), enzyme (E), formic acid (FA) and formaldehyde (FD) prior to ensiling. Three bag silos for each treatment were randomly opened at 0, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 60 days after anaerobic storage. For ...

Listeria app, isolated from 13 of 129 (10%) corn silage samples, 21 of 76 (28%) hay silage samples, and 3 of 5 (60%) grass silage samples during a previous Vermont survey were subjected to automated ribotype (RT) analysis. The 13 positive corn silage samples contained 3 Listeria monocytogenes isolated (three RTs, including one known clinical RT) and 10 L. innocua isolates (four RTs). Similarly,...

Silage is a common way of storing and feeding forage in the United States. There are 4 phases (aerobic, anaerobic, stable, and feedout) that silage undergoes. The most critical phases to manage to minimize nutritive losses are when the silage is going from an aerobic to an anaerobic environment and at feedout. The first important step in achieving silage of high nutritive value is to harvest at...

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a homolactic acid inoculant on ensiling characteristics and nutritive value of high dry matter (DM) alfalfa. The ensiling characteristics were determined by ensiling inoculated and untreated alfalfa haylage in mini-silos for 0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 45 days. Two lactating cows fitted with ruminal fistulas were used to determine ruminal degra...

A finishing experiment evaluated substitution of corn with corn silage in diets with modified distillers grains with solubles (MDGS). Steers were fed 15, 30, 45, or 55% corn silage in diets with 40% MDGS. Two additional treatments were tested with 30% corn silage and 65% MDGS and 45% corn silage and 0% MDGS. As corn silage inclusion increased, there was a slight linear increase in F:G with a li...